Engaging and nurturing young nature lovers |19 May 2023
To coincide with its ‘Small Steps: A Happy Future’ campaign theme for the month of April, ‘Nature’, the Institute for Early Childhood Development (IECD) held a tree-planting activity on Friday April 28 at two child care centres.
The campaign, spearheaded by the Advocacy and Information Section, features a 10-month long agenda of activities to commemorate IECD’s 10th year anniversary.
In collaboration with the Centre-Based Unit at IECD, the Advocacy and Information Section, fronted the tree planting activity which took place at Kinderland at Anse Aux Pins and Busybees at Takamaka.
This thoughtful and kind gesture also coincides with IECD taking up legal responsibility for child care centres formerly known as day care centres.
The day started with the planting of two different types of trees at each location, namely: ‘Bwa Merl’ and ‘Ponm Zako’ at Kinderland and ‘Rousay and Vavang’ at Busybees. These trees were personal choices of the child care centres.
Kinderland chose ‘Bwa Merl’ and ‘Ponm Zako’ as these are plants that will one day provide shade for the little kids to play under while Busy Bees opted for fruit trees – ‘Rousay’ and ‘Vavang’ – as they thought in the near future, children can hand pick the delicious fruits from these home-grown plants.
A group of children had the opportunity to take part in the activity by helping to plant and water the trees and, to make it more interactive, they helped to finger-paint canvas plaques citing the name of the plants, date planted and IECD as the proud sponsor of these plantlets.
Samantha Jules, senior compliance officer from the Centre-Based Unit presented Gina Philoe, the child care manager of Kinderland with the plaque, while Renelle Anacoura, the head of section for the Centre-Based Unit presented Lisette Bonnelame, the child care manager of Busybees with their plaque.
In attendance on the day were the vice-chairperson of the IECD board, Sonia Mancienne, board member Magda Rose, staff of IECD, representatives of the child care centres, parents, and children. The activity ended on a cheerful note, with children’s laughter and feeling of accomplishment, followed by refreshments.
Being active outdoors can bring a host of benefits for young children. Exposure to nature can help improve mental and physical health and being in contact with nature can reduce stress and anxiety levels, increasing feelings of well-being and happiness. Therefore, the tree-planting
activity is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of nurturing our children to spend time more time in nature.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the tree-planting activity at the two child care centres.
Text & photos contributed
